On Friday 22^nd June, Year Six pupils and teachers took part in the annual Leavers’ Service at Winchester Cathedral. This important event was attended by all those children from Church of England schools within the Winchester diocese who will be moving to secondary school in September.

The children spent part of their time looking around the cathedral and marvelling at the architecture, stained glass and many artefacts of that magnificent building. This generated many interesting questions and observations from the children about the history and daily life of this sacred space.

In addition, the children took an enthusiastic part in the service conducted by the Bishop of Basingstoke. The numerous hymns were sung with gusto and our pupils listened attentively to the presentations by several schools about how we can all be ‘everyday heroes’ by spreading the word and practice of Jesus Christ in our lives at school and in our community. Along with all the other schools, St. Mary’s exhibited a decorated chair that explained how our school values can guide everyone to show love to one another. Our chair will remain in the cathedral for a few weeks for all the visitors from around the word to see and admire. Then, it will return to school and be used in our Acts of Worship.